As Ridge carried his belongings off the train he had caught from the bustling city of Manehattan, he looked about his surroundings. What he saw amazed him to the very core of his heart. A vast and expansive looking surrounding full of lush green fields that were valleyed in by mountains all around him. He gasped in excitement as he finally gazed upon the Crystal Empire that was behind the train station. The Crystal Empire’s shear radiance poured out from the empire and filled Ridge’s very body with a shiver of positive energy.
“I can’t believe I’m actually here!” He shouted aloud in happiness. He then looked around to see if anyone else other than himself were there. It made him sort of happy that nobody other than himself were there. “Maybe I should check next time... That could’ve ended a bit awkwardly...” He said to himself as he walked out of the station and down the path leading to the Crystal Empire.
As he walked down the path to the Crystal Empire, he couldn’t help but awe at the Crystal Gate he was approaching. “How does it hold itself together?! I mean with the lack of supports those shards SHOULD be falling apart! I guess it’s magic though...” Ridge Blurted out as he looked above him when he walked under the gate. Ridge then turned his eyes to the Empire that laid before him. From his point of view, he could see the tallest structure, the Crystal Castle towered over most of the buildings in the city. A few bigger buildings in the smaller sections of the empire rose, though much smaller than the Crystal Castle, and were more noticeable than the smaller buildings around them. “I still can’t believe the legends and the story about the King... Sombrero or... Sombre...? I dunno... Some King by that name... Who took over this place and made it all negative ‘n stuff...” Ridge remarked.
When Ridge finally made it inside the Empire itself, he noticed many banner’s and festival decorations that were hung up from building-to-building. “Oh yeah! The Crystal Faire! I completely forgot about it! Too bad I spent all my bits at Manehattan otherwise I would’ve brought some stuff...” He said as he jolted and pointed his head in all directions. One thing struck him as odd however and that was the fact that no pony was around or rather, the fact that the only pony other than himself was cowering in fear. “That’s odd...” Ridge muttered under his breath as he showed an expression of confusion. “Hey, are you okay? Did something happen???” Ridge asked as he trotted over to the pony.
“The crystal... Heart... Stolen...” The pony mumbled out in fear. “The Crystal Heart... Has been STOLEN!?” B-but... That can’t be possible! Weren’t there guards guarding’ the thing or something’? I mean it’s a VERY important thing, right?” He said astounded at the answer. “T-they were... Dark... Magic... Bad omen...” The pony replied in a cowering tone. “Dark Magic? But then that means... Huh-?!” Ridge stopped midsentence after noticing some other pony run off inside the castle itself. From what he could depict, the pony was stallion from the bulkier build in his body. He was also quite dark in body colour and his mane was unmistakeably black like night. “Who was that...?” Well no matter... I’ve got to try and find a place to call home now that I FINALLY moved out of my parents’ house in Canterlot...” He said as he walked around the empty streets of the Crystal Empire to try and find his new home.
After a few hours of trotting around with his rather heavy baggage, Ridge finally made it to his, soon to be, new home. From what he saw on the front, it was rather lackluster in design. “I paid 20,000 bits for this...?” Ridge asked himself in slight disappointment as he walked up to a note he saw on the door. The note read as such;
Dear Ridge,
Though I may not be there when you arrive, I want to let you know that I, the former owner of this house, greatly appreciate your investment in the house. Though it may look lackluster in design on the exterior, the interior has a lot of spacious... Space! It is a two-bedroom house with a nice kitchen area, living-room area and dining room and bathroom on the upper floor. I wouldn’t recommend going down to the basement though... That place is a mess! I couldn’t clear it myself but if you do manage to clear it I respect you... That place had cobwebs galore though... Good luck if you’re an arachnophobe!
Now you might be asking yourself; Where are the key’s so I can get in?! Well don’t worry, they’re taped to the back of this note!
Anyway, I’m sure you’ll have a LOT of fun with this place! I’ll check-up soon to see how you’re doing okay?
The former owner.
Ridge looked skeptical after reading the note. “That’s... Odd... Well... Look on the bright side Ridge! At least you have your own place now!” He said to himself in an enthusiastic tone as he ripped the note from the tape holding it on the door and turned it around. “The keys...! I’m glad no-one stole them thank Celestia...” He said in relief as he untaped the keys and unlocked the front door.
Once Ridge managed to shove his baggage inside the house he looked around. From what he saw. The house was indeed very spacious. The entry area itself was very large. A stairway leading to the upper level to the right of him, A light dangling above him and two doors. One Ridge assumed lead to the kitchen and dining area whilst the other he could see from the open door to his right lead to what should be his soon-to-be living room. “I might as well put the baggage in there... I’ll do the unpacking tomorrow...” Ridge said to himself as he noticed it was almost sunset. He closed his front door and spent a few moments of rummaging through his stuff to find his sleeping bag. He then trotted over to the corner in the living room and stayed there hoping to get some sleep. One thing kept him awake however; Who was that pony who entered the Crystal Castle? And who would steal the Crystal Heart? These thoughts stayed on his mind until he drifted to sleep long after he initially went to bed.
Chapter 2 - A Knightmare of dreaming proportions.
As Ridge’s blurry vision cleared, he awoke in the strangest of places. From where he was, he saw a multitude of floating islands surrounding the, assumingly larger, island he was currently on. “Wait... Wasn’t I in the Crystal Empire!?” Ridge asked aloud in shock as he stood up. After looking around in the skies where the islands resided, Ridge then focused his eyesight downward where he saw nothing but an empty void. “T-that’s... A shame... I really wish there WAS land-“ Ridge’s sentence was immediately interrupted as the empty void was filled with an endless expanse of nothing but grass. “Wait...” Ridge thought deeply as he tried to figure out where in the hay he was. “Oh boy! I WISH the world I was in right now had DEPTH to it!” Ridge shouted. Sure enough, like the last time, Rivers appeared, Mountains beyond height scale and trees appeared. “So then... I create this world... But why am I here...?” Ridge asked himself in confusion.
After what seemed a few hours creating the world of his dreams, he stopped to observe what he had created. “I wish I had a map of this world.” Ridge said to the air and, without any delay, a map of the place materialized and floated to the floor. When Ridge picked it up however, it crumpled up and hissed as it burned in a black fire. The remains of the map fell to the floor giving off a burned smell as if someone had burned some hay bacon. “What just happened-“ Before Ridge could finish his sentence, the floor started glitching out as if it were in a game. It constantly flickered into view and then out of view. The same thing happened with the surrounding scenery. It was as if Ridge was slowly losing his grip on the creative powers in the world. “Why is everything LIKE this?! I thought it would last...” Ridge spoke aloud in disappointment. Before Ridge had time to assess the situation and try to figure out a solution, the whole world disappeared into darkness. “Why did the whole WORLD disappear?! Huh?! What’s that... sound?!” Ridge asked in worry as he heard a roar coming from all directions. A horn followed shortly after the roar and with that, another pony appeared before him. It was hard for Ridge to depict whether this pony had a horn or a set of wings (or if the pony was simply an earthpony), but from what he COULD depict, the pony was a male. The stallion appeared to be made from shadows as he was constantly having trouble maintaining his physical body. His eyes were pure white as he opened them up. “This is getting a little bit TOO freaky...” Ridge said as he noticed more of what seemed to be clones of the stallion infront of him. The clones to had trouble maintaining their physical bodies.
After a while of just... Standing there having a sort of stare-off with the clones and the shadow stallion, the shadow stallion dispersed into a pool of shadows. The clones followed afterwards. They all gathered into one massive shadowy mass of dark shadows floating in the air. What it turned into was a giant, massive version of the shadow stallion but this time with armour. “Well done you can cosplay...” Ridge said to the shadow stallion with a blunt look. Just as Ridge was about to start complaining at the stallion, the stallion pulled out a spear made of shadows. He then made a charge for Ridge. Ridge quickly moved to the side in shock. “How did he make a spear of shadows?!” Ridge asked himself in complete shock. The shadow stallion then appeared behind Ridge and when Ridge turned around, it grew larger and larger until it was on a scale of cosmic heights. He then proceeded to try and stomp Ridge. Luckily Ridge was able to move just in time to avoid the giant hoof stomping on him. “Oh great...” Ridge said as another hoof came crashing down above him. He swiftly moved out of the way to avoid being crushed.
After a few minutes of avoiding the gigantic hooves that were trying to crush him, Ridge started panting due to the lack of a break between each stomp. “I... can’t... keep... up...” Ridge slowly managed to say. As soon as he said this however, one of the giant hooves crushed him. Ridge however, was unscathed. “But I thought-“ Ridge’s sentence was abruptly put to a halt as he noticed he was falling. Ridge screamed out in fear of falling for the first few minutes. However, after what seemed to be a few hours, Ridge became bored. “Man... I thought I would land on solid ground by now...” Ridge said in disappointment. Ridge looked downwards to the endless void he was falling through. “Seriously... Can this just END?!” Ridge shouted into the air as he continued to fall. He then noticed a speck of light below him. “I have to get to that light... It might be my only chance of getting out of here!” Ridge said to himself as he went into a drill like pose. He fell much faster in the pose and soon could enter the light. As he did so however...
CRASH. Ridge crashed into his wall as he woke up. “Ow... My horn!” Ridge shouted in pain. “Wait... That was a dream...?” Ridge asked himself as he got his surroundings in check. Sure enough, the world he was in was just a dream. “But then... Why did I dream THAT?” Ridge asked himself in complete confusion. Suddenly, a knock from the front door echoed throughout the house. Ridge went up to the door and as soon as he opened it, two of the Crystal guards who were roaming the streets stood and looked at Ridge with a blunt and serious expression. “How may I help you...?” Ridge asked the stallions in slight confusion. “We have orders from Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor back in the castle to bring a new pony to them...? Are YOU that pony might I ask?” The left stallion said in a stern and serious tone. “I did move here yesterday but... What have I done?!” Ridge asked in complete shock. “Enough questions already! C’mon we got to take you to the Princess and Prince so shut your yapper and come with us!” The right stallion shouted. Both stallion’s facial expressions showed a huge majority of anger. “O-okay...” Ridge silently said as he walked with the stallions to the Crystal Castle.
